PRESS RELEASE FROM CONGRESSMAN KILMER DATED 9/ 20/ 17 (link source)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Democracy Reform Task Force Chair Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) today led a coalition of Democratic House and Senate members, including Representative Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) in sending a letter to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) urging the agency to consider new rules that would prevent foreign nationals from using online advertising platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, to influence U.S. elections.
The letter comes amid media reports that a Russian company purchased Facebook ads in an attempt to influence American voters during the 2016 election. In the letter, Congressman Sarbanes, Senator Heinrich and 15 of their colleagues expressed concern that no guidelines or penalties exist to prevent foreign nationals from buying online ads to influence U.S. elections.
“Foreign political activity is a direct assault on federal election law and the integrity of our elections,” the Members wrote. “The Federal Elections Campaign Act bars foreign nationals, companies, or governments from spending, either directly or indirectly, in U.S. elections. Social media platforms offer the ability to target millions of users based upon a wealth of highly-detailed information. As we have seen, the low cost of reaching these users equips hostile foreign actors with a powerful new tool for disruption of our democratic process. Therefore, it is incumbent that the Commission take immediate action to preserve the integrity of our election law and our elections.”
The Members continued: “We encourage the Federal Election Commission to take immediate steps to understand the threats posed to our democratic process by foreign influenced internet and social media advertisement, and to promulgate new guidance on how advertisement platforms can better prevent foreign nationals from illicitly spending in future U.S. elections.”
VIDEO: Sen. Murray Urges Senate Republicans to Return to Bipartisan Health Care Negotiations Following Collapse of Graham-Cassidy Plan
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 26/ 17 (link source)
Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate health committee, called on her Republican colleagues to immediately resume negotiations on improving care following Senate Republicans’ announcement this afternoon that they lacked the votes to pass the newest version of their Trumpcare plan, known as Graham-Cassidy. Sen. Murray had been working with her counterpart on the health committee, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), to stabilize the health care market and prevent premium increases for patients and families, holding weeks of bipartisan hearings with governors, insurance commissioners, medical professionals and experts before Republican leaders put these negotiations on hold in order to make one last attempt to jam through a deeply partisan bill.
Sens. Murray, Cantwell Call for Extension of DACA Renewal Deadline in Wake of Storms
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 26/ 17 (link source)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the wake of three massive storms that have disrupted the day-to-day lives of millions of people in the United States, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) along with 36 of their U.S. Senate colleagues called on the Trump administration to extend the crucial Oct. 5 deadline for Dreamers to renew their DACA status.
The group made the request in a letter to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke.
“These major hurricanes significantly disrupted day-to-day living and operations in these states and territories,” the lawmakers wrote. “It would be appropriate for the government to extend the October 5, 2017 deadline nationwide to allow individuals adequate time to meet the government’s recent request.”
The Trump administration announced earlier this month that it was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program which allows some immigrants who were brought to the U.S. before the age of 16 to work and go to school without the fear of being deported.
In ending the program, the administration is allowing some Dreamers currently enrolled to apply for a renewal. Those renewal applications and a $495 fee must be received by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by Oct. 5, and the lawmakers fear the recent disruptions caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria could make it nearly impossible for some eligible Dreamers to meet the deadline.
“Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico are still working to recover and will be for some time,” the lawmakers wrote. “An extension of the deadline would provide DACA recipients more time to collect the $495 application fee and gather the necessary documents to accurately complete the renewal application.”
According to the USCIS, tens of thousands of DACA recipients live in areas impacted by the storms.
Sens. Murray and Cantwell, along with Reps. Adam Smith (WA-9) and Pramila Jayapal (WA-7), recently held a press conference at Bellevue College with Dreamers, urging Republicans to work with Democrats on a legislative fix to make the DACA program permanent and end the uncertainty for DACA recipients. More than 17,800 DACA recipients live in Washington state. The Democratic members of Washington state’s congressional delegation also sent a letter to President Trump on September 5th urging him to reconsider his reckless decision to repeal DACA and ensure that Dreamers’ application information is not used for immigration enforcement.
Sen. Murray Urges VA Secretary Shulkin to Extend Coverage to Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 25/ 17 (link source)
(Washington, D.C.) – Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC), sent a letter to Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin to urge the VA to act on recommendations from the National Academy of Science (NAM) regarding the association between the Agent Orange exposure and chronic conditions such as bladder cancer, hyperthyroidism and Parkinson-like conditions. In the letter, also joined by Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Murray and her colleagues criticized the Department’s delay to implement recommendations made by NAM’s Veterans and Agent Orange, Update 2014 report and urged the VA to extend care to cover veterans suffering from these conditions.
Cantwell Addresses Humanitarian Crisis In Puerto Rico At Energy And Natural Resources Hearing
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 26/ 17 (link source)
WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-WA) called attention to the role of the federal government in Puerto Rico’s disaster recovery:
During opening statements Senator Cantwell said, “I want to start with the crisis in Puerto Rico and how much we need to continue to be vigilant with the help and assistance in Puerto Rico. They are a U.S. Territory and we need to make sure that they get every bit of assistance and focus from the federal government possible.”
“I’ve called on the administration to create a position at the White House to make sure every agency, not just FEMA, but every agency is working to help us coordinate what will be a very long response to Puerto Rico,” said Senator Cantwell. “So thank you for your statement this morning [Chairman Murkowski] and your focus on this as well. You are always reminding people you were born in a territory and you remember that that’s such an important aspect of our responsibilities as a nation and so thank you for your willingness to be very, very focused on Puerto Rico.”
“I’ve encouraged Senator Hatch to do the same thing given that there are so many things in the Finance committee as it relates to health care for Puerto Ricans and where we are already going to be in this situation so hopefully we can all unite in what will be support for American citizens who are in a very desperate situation.”
Cantwell Responds To Secretary Zinke’s Attacks On Department Of The Interior Employees
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 26/ 17 (link source)
WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) released the following statement regarding Secretary Zinke’s attacks on the Department of the Interior employees:
“The public servants at the Department of the Interior deserve respect from the man charged with leading them—not cheap shots in the press,” said Senator Cantwell. “Secretary’s Zinke’s comments yesterday betray a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of federal civil service. They are non-political employees charged with implementing and enforcing laws passed by Congress and have incredible domain expertise in their areas of responsibility.”
“Replacing them with purely political people will not protect our public lands or protect taxpayers from special interest sweetheart deals."
Cantwell Remarks on Graham-Cassidy Bill
Senator Maria Cantwell's Questioning Before the Finance Committee Hearing on Graham-Cassidy
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 25/ 17 (link source)
Round 1:
Senator Cantwell: On this subject, I’m having a tough time understanding the overall philosophy of this legislation. I can say that I definitely had town meetings and was encouraged by the fact that Senator Cassidy wanted flexibility for states. I was encouraged, I think I even mentioned it, that he wanted flexibility.
But the reason that we’re not working together now on this legislation is because it is taking the premise of flexibility and turning it on its head as it relates to a program that has been a 52-year relationship between the state and federal government. It is taking a 70 million [person] population and basically saying, ‘I’m going to change the way health care is delivered to you’ under the ruse that you are trying to address the individual market which is 19 million—18 million.
So you are trying to say to people, ‘I’m fixing that in the individual market’ when you’re not. Premiums in states that expanded Medicaid have seven percent lower premiums in the individual market.
And the notion that we should do this because of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), that TANF was some sort of lifeline, the TANF experiment which I should bring up, your state is the lowest in the nation in per capita TANF benefits in the sense of for every 100 people you serve the least TANF benefits.
What has driven people out of poverty in America is not the way we’ve structured TANF; it’s the EITC, it’s the SNAP program—that is what has helped.
And so now to take this block grant experiment and say that you were going to somehow magically drive down costs in health care when in reality you were just kicking millions of Americans off with the ruse of putting them into a capitated program and then cutting their benefits.
So to me it is not a panacea for the future. I would love to see… Oh, by the way you take the one creative, flexible idea that states have, section 1331, that has allowed 650,000 people in the state of New York to get cheap, affordable health care at $500 of premiums, and X’d that out. So you took one the most creative ideas that will cost New York billions, probably $3-4 billion because you’ve X’d it out. So my point is this to Ms. Miller. I’m pretty sure there are innovative ways in the Affordable Care Act to drive down cost. I’m pretty sure Pennsylvania took advantage of them. I think you helped expand a program to get people off of nursing home care into community-based care. In our state that saved billions, I’m pretty sure that probably will save a lot of money in Pennsylvania.
What about those ideas in driving down the cost of Medicaid, because my colleagues on the other side, I think, seem to think the only way you can drive down the cost of Medicaid is cutting people off. And I totally disagree. In fact, I think this chart that raises the question on rural health care is how many people in hospitals rural America. The non-expanded states have seen the most closures of rural hospitals in America. Why is that? Why is that? So the notion that somehow we have in the corner of Graham-Cassidy figured this out, I just don’t believe it. So do we have innovation in the Affordable Care Act that is driving down cost in the Medicaid market in a very significant way and can we push it faster?
Panelist Teresa Miller (Acting Secretary, Department of Human Services Commonwealth of Pennsylvania): Thank you Senator. I think you’re alluding to our community health choices program that we’re rolling out. I think we all know that seniors want to be served in their communities and I think that our governor has made a real push to get people out of nursing homes and let them age in their communities. And we also know that in terms of the cost to Medicaid, it’s mandatory in terms of paying for nursing home services but community based services are not mandatory. And yet, moving people out of institutions and into the community is how we’re going to save money for both the state and federal government. (see rest of statement on link source)
FROM THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE:
Inslee announces help from private donor to pay DACA recipients’ renewal feesDonation to help about 250 people in Washington state; deadline to apply for two-year DACA extension is Oct. 5
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 25/ 17 (link source)
Gov. Jay Inslee announced today that many Washington residents seeking to renew their status under the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will soon have assistance in paying the $495 application fee .
Thanks to an anonymous donation of $125,000, approximately 250 Washington residents will be eligible for an application-fee scholarship for the two-year DACA extension.
Advocates recommend that DACA recipients mail their applications no later than Oct. 3 to make sure they are received by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services by the Oct. 5 deadline.
“Nearly 18,000 DREAMers call Washington state home, and the cruel actions of the Trump Administration threatens the ability of these aspiring young men and women to go to school or work,” Inslee said. “This program will help lessen the financial impact on the DREAMers and their families.”
The private donation will be administered through the Mission Asset Fund (MAF) in San Francisco, and no Washington state funds are being used for the application fees.
To put the new application fee scholarship program in place, Washington has formed a DACA Renewal Coalition. The leading organizations of the coalition will be the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), a legal services provider; the Washington Dream Act Coalition, a grassroots youth-led movement; the Mission Asset Fund (MAF), an organization that is currently providing scholarship funds to DACA recipients; and the state’s Office of Refugees and Immigrant Assistance (ORIA).
WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS, from Reuters:
Foreign powers could try to influence German coalition talks: spy chief
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s elections escaped the major foreign meddling that disrupted votes in the United States and France, but there is a risk powers could try to influence coalition talks, a top official with the domestic intelligence agency said on Thursday.
South Korea expects more provocative acts by North Korea in mid-October
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea expects more provocative acts by North Korea next month, to coincide with the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean communist party and China’s all-important Communist Party Congress.
Philippine leader changes his tune with praise for U.S. 'allies'
MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte voiced rare praise for the United States on Thursday, calling it an important security ally, and dismissing historic grievances and his slew of past tirades against Washington as “water under the bridge”.
NATIONAL
Trump lifts foreign shipping restrictions for storm-hit Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily lifted restrictions on foreign shipping from the U.S. mainland to Puerto Rico on Thursday to help get fuel and supplies quickly to the U.S. territory as it reels from the devastation of Hurricane Maria.
Trump says NFL team owners 'afraid of their players': Fox
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said he believes that owners of National Football League teams are afraid of their players, his latest criticism of NFL players kneeling during the U.S. national anthem at games to protest racial disparities in the country.
U.S. Health Secretary Price believes has president's confidence
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said on Thursday he believed he still had President Trump’s confidence, a day after the president said he was not happy with Price over reports he had used private planes for official travel.
Daily Bible Verse: But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV
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